The Board of Directors
There are 9 directors on the board. There are three directors for each of the three Counties in the Watershed: Warren County, PA and Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties in New York State. Two of the directors for each county are At-large. One director per county is an agricultural representative. Municipal officials are encouraged to serve on the board.
Current Board of Directors
Dick Burlingame, Warren County, Chair
Dick is a retired elementary school teacher and farmer. He has lived in Russell, PA area his entire life. He grew up on the Conewango Creek which is the basis of his interest in the CCWA. He has a deep concern for the quality of our environment. He is a volunteer in the Teacher Naturalist program for the Warren County Conservation District and helps with various activities including Childrens’ Nature Camps.
John Gallagher, Chautauqua County, Vice Chair
Chris Humphrey, Secretary, Chautauqua County
Chris has served as a director with the CCWA since the very beginning. Her love of nature and of the area has inspired her desire to serve in a positive way. She is a chemist by training and is employed by the South and Central Chautauqua Lake Sewer District in Celeron, NY running the laboratory. Her job is to ensure the waters being returned to Chautauqua Lake are clean and healthy.
Elizabeth Dropp, Treasurer, Warren County
Liz has been a director for nearly 5 years and has served as the treasurer for the same time. She has lived in Warren County for the past 26 years. Part of her property drains to the Conewango Creek watershed. She has an associate and bachelor degrees in Agronomy (Crops and Soils). She has worked for the USDA NRCS and two different Conservation Districts in the past. She also has worked for the US Forest Service and Pa Dept of Agriculture doing forest insect pest monitoring activities. She currently has her own business developing Nutrient Management Plans for farmers in PA. She strongly believes we all need to stop thinking about our water and related resources in such a piecemeal fashion. Everything is interrelated. She also believes we need to work with nature, not against it. And people need adjust their frame of mind and realize that protecting our water resources is very important and that protection of them doesn’t have to mean we stop using them. “Unfortunately, people have the mindset that you can have either a good economy or a good environment, but not both. But really we need a good healthy environment to keep our citizens and our economy healthy for the long term.”
Larry Bourne, Cattaraugus County
Larry is a retired teacher at Randolph Central School and has been retired for a number of years. He is very interested in keeping the ConewangoCreek clean so people can use it for recreational purposes. He joined the Association after taking two canoe trips sponsor by the CCWA. In taking these trips could see the beauty of the Conewango Creek and realized what a great asset it is to our area. He believes that all waterways should be kept clean, healthy and usable for the people.
Steve Kimball, Chautauqua County
Steve is a dairy producer who produces organic milk and crops. His fields lie along the Conewango and its tributaries. He is a former County Legislator, a charter member of the CCWA and has been on the board since the start. He is the president elect of the Falconer Rotary, a NYS representative of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. He is married and the father of 5, two of whom are still at home.